Editorial
Dimitris Loutradis
Editor in Chief
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Correspondence: Dimitris Loutradis, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10 Alkaiou, GR 115 28, Athens, Greece, e-mail: info@hsog.gr
Enhanced recovery programs after surgery (ERAS) gains ground the last years as it provides fast postoperative mobilization and is associated with reduced perioperative morbidity. Key elements of these protocols include but are not limited to pre-hospital / preadmission, preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative interventions that help patients` recovery. Patient and family education are an important part of the protocol as they ensure adequate prehabilitation and optimization of parameters that involve their nutritional and physical status. Minimal fasting is ensured with the aid of carbohydrate beverages that are administered two hours before anesthesia and postoperative care aims at reducing opioid analgesia to the minimum in order to help mobilize patients as early as possible. In the present issue, Proshchenko et al provide outcomes of an accelerated rehabilitation program involving premenopausal women that undergo hysterectomy. Their study provides clear data that demonstrate improved intraoperative and postoperative outcomes that are associated with reduced postoperative hospitalization, decreased need for postoperative analgesia and improved parameters involving the assessment of their quality of life.
These findings confirm those of previous researchers and indicate the need for further incorporation of these protocols in current clinical practice with the aim to improve the immediate and long term outcomes of women undergoing gynecologic surgery.